Day 107: Here’s to the 290 Songs That Will Always Remind Me of Quarantine
Day 107: July 11, 2020
Global Cases: 12, 833, 460; Deaths: 567, 035
Egypt Cases: 81, 158; Deaths: 3, 769
Mariam Tantawy
Integrated Marketing Communications Junior
It’s 10am. I am an hour-and-a-half away from my first online class of the day, so I decided to make myself breakfast. Back before quarantine, I would have never eaten breakfast at home because of how late I was to classes, but since we shifted to online learning, I’ve had more time to grab something to eat.
Breakfast is usually the only meal that I enjoy preparing. Making breakfast means that I actually have the time to do something, and I typically do it with love. I made myself a grilled cheese and turkey sandwich, and I added freshly made orange juice, too.
It’s 1 pm. I finished my first online class and went to the balcony to sit with my mother for a bit while waiting for my second class of the day. I found her on a conference call working as usual, so I started looking at her plants which she loves the most.
She owns a variety of plants, and she takes excellent care of them. I lost count of how many plants she owns, but they all look refreshing. When she finished her call, she started showing me her blossomed jasmine flower, and she showed me a couple of other plants but I can’t even remember their names.
I started asking her about her day, whether there is any new news that I should know of. I love the time that I spend with my mom talking about everything in life. I think it is essential to have time to speak to someone about my thoughts and feelings. It is crucial to listen to others’ opinions about the matters that are happening around the world.
I spent a couple of hours with my mother then headed to my room to attend my second class. My class finished at 3:45 after which I decided to take a nap that lasted until 7pm. I checked my phone once I got up wondering when we would finally get out of living in social media and return to our normal lives. I missed how hectic my life was and missed every activity that made me too busy to look at my phone. I realized that I’ve been on my phone for almost one hour in the dark, not doing anything useful in life.
After that, I ate dinner with my young brother, whom I haven’t seen for a while because of our mixed sleeping schedules. Being the older sister is a blessing because I keep telling him that he needs to fix his sleeping schedule even though we both have messed up schedules.
For The Caravan‘s previous diary entries in Arabic and English go to our COVID-19 Special Coverage page.
By 9pm, I decided to finally put my phone down and turned on my laptop to finish my assignments. I wanted to submit them earlier than usual because I want to spend the rest of the day free without having any responsibilities; however, I am the biggest procrastinator.
I have never finished things on time, so it took me a lot to actually do the work instead of jamming to the long quarantine playlist I created in March. I enjoy listening to music a lot, and I love discovering new types of music and artists too. I usually associate songs with moments and memories in life, so when we first started quarantining, I made myself a new playlist, and I kept on adding music to it. I kept adding music until I realized that they’re 290 songs that will remind me of this time for the rest of my life.
I finally submitted my assignments and started looking around, wondering why I’m spending my 20’s at home not doing anything other than attending online classes and witnessing a year passing without any remarkable memories.
Even though we’re not in the best circumstances, I’ve learned a lot about myself and others, and it actually gave me time to reflect on life and appreciate everything we’re surrounded by.
